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Chapter Text

Rey woke by a splash of cold water.

Gasping and shaking her head free of water, she caught sight of the redheaded general.

Though she hadn't seen his face in the throne room, she was sure that it was him.

His appearance was now composed and powerful. His wounds were treated, and his hair strictly combed to the back of his head.

"I owe you thanks, girl."

"This is a weird way to show it." Rey snapped, once again trapped in an interrogation room and with water dripping from her nose.

"It is a necessary precaution." He assured her. "I do not usually conduct interrogations."

"Then why start now?"

"As I said," the General uttered, "I owe you thanks."

Rey waited, he obviously wanted something from her and she was not going to ask what it was.

"Where is Ren?" He asked.

A tiny spark of hope lit in her heart and she immediately reached out through the Force.

There, somewhere on the vessel, was a tiny spark of something familiar, something right.

The feeling was like finally breathing air after suffocating.

He was alive!

Exhausted, but alive.

"So he really is alive." The General looked disappointed, as her facial expression revealed her feelings. "where is he?"

The General didn't seem to have any physical strength and he wasn't force-sensitive, still, he had the attitude of a leader.

"I don't know, General," she answered, truthfully.

"Don't you dare call me that!" He barked at her. "I am the Supreme Commander of the First Order!"

Rey crossed her brows and looked him up and down. "You have a weird way of asking for a favor, Supreme Commander." She didn't know where the title put him on the chain of command, but she figured that it was pretty high. "Because that is what you are doing, right?"

He leered, unwilling to admit that she was right.

"You... you want me to protect you from Kylo?" It sounded ridiculous, but she felt the fear in him, as strongly as if it was her own.

Rey snorted at him as he didn't deny it. "Don't you know who I am?" She asked, truly wondering if he really wasn't aware.

The Commander stood tall. "Ren is bound to come after me."

"Good luck." Rey's eyes were cold.

He continued, ignoring her comment. "You have a choice, Scavenger; you either stay at my side, save my life and leave the Supremacy in one piece. Or you wait for him here and fight until you are both dead."

"You are pretty conceited," Rey stated. Though he was trying his best, she was unable to truly be intimidated by him. That might be a side-effect of spending so much time with Kylo. "What makes you think that I won't kill you myself?"

The question seemed to surprise him a bit, "aren't you a hero?" He asked as if it was something disgusting. "I thought you were part of the Resistance and their self-righteous little uprising."

"No," Rey answered with traces of a sad smile on her lips. "I am no one."

"Make your choice!" The Commander barked impatiently. 

Rey closed her eyes. Kylo was still there, on the outskirts of her mind.

Rey felt weak.

If it hadn't been for Kafia, Rey could have easily freed herself from the chair.

Kylo was probably even more drained than her seeing as Kafia literally erased his existence for a short while.

"Okay." She agreed, "free me."

"You will stop every attempt on my life until the second you leave this vessel." The Commander declared. "Do I have your word?"

"And you will not try to harm Kylo in any underhanded manner." Rey looked him right in the eyes. "When I leave, Kylo leave with me."

The Commander frowned, he was clearly unhappy with her demand, but still nodded.

"Say it."

"You and Kylo will leave together."

"Unharmed." She was not letting him go that easily.

The Commander clenched his fists. "Unharmed." He agreed.

Then a thought emerged in her mind, "and..."

"Don't push it." He warned her.

"I want to see Kafia's body." Her voice and eyes showed clear determination.

"Why?" He croaked.

"It doesn't concern you."

A nerve twitched at the Commanders chin as he, once again, forced himself to stay calm. "Very well. It seems we have an agreement."

-

Rey didn't even glance at the red armor, which was laid out on the bed in the tiny room. She only cared for her lightsaber.

With limited control of the Force, it felt reassuring to have it in her hand once again.

After leaving the interrogation room a medic-droid had treated her wounds and worn out body, making her able to walk and stand on her own.

Now she only needed to change out of the wet officers-uniform, then she was ready to take the position as the bodyguard of Supreme Commander Hux.

"Hurry up," Hux ordered through the door.

He and a brigade of officers and guards were just outside, waiting for her.

For some reason, he seemed determined to be near her. She wasn't sure if it made him feel safe or if he was using her to trap Kylo. It was most likely the latter. She hadn't forgotten the trap on Amania.

The fear of Kylo had been real enough, but she couldn't decipher the real plan in his mind. He was far too strong-willed for that.

If she played the part of a bodyguard, she could at least move freely and maybe get some information on the First Order.

There was something unsettling about the Commander's smugness and strict manner. Surprisingly, she felt no anguish at the thought of killing him. She knew that if he did anything to hurt Kylo, she would really do it, and she was fully at peace with it.

Slipping out of the uniform, she shoved the scarlet armor-plates to a side and only took the black trousers and the inner tunic.

The armored boots were too heavy for her, so she settled for the officers' boots and fastened the belt from the uniform to keep the tunic together around her.

Dressed all in black she felt less like herself than ever before.

When her hair was once again tied in her usual buns, she took a deep breath, as she went for the door.

I'm doing this for Kylo, she reminded herself, clinging to the faint feeling of him.

The Supreme Commander frowned when he saw her appearance, but he didn't comment on it.

With long steps, he marched down the hall and the rest of the party hurried after him.

Chapter Text

Kafia wasn't a beautiful corpse.

Her face was twisted, with traces of blood down her cheeks and the red eyes staring blindly.

Rey tried not to look too closely at it and instead focused her attention on the stones fastened to her arm. Digging out a scalpel from a drawer, and ignoring the sickening pull from the stones, she started to pry them loose and collected them in a little bag.

She had no intention of leaving even one of those damned stones in the hands of the First Order.

"That took you long enough," Hux commented, as she exited the crematory.

Rey didn't answer. She owed him neither loyalty nor obedience.

He snickered, clearly unhappy with her attitude. "You are just like Ren: all power, no respect."

She knew that it was supposed to be an insult, but somehow being compared to Kylo like that comforted her a bit. Though her connection with the Force was greatly weakened, Hux knew that she was indeed powerful. Sometime soon she would make him regret not killing her.

Following him around on the Supremacy was boring.

Hux talked of nothing bud figures, expenses and the progressing repair of the Supremacy.

Rey wasn't expected to talk, and she didn't really have anyone to talk with. Everyone knew who she was, and they only tolerated her because they were ordered to.

It didn't stop their sneers or the untrusting looks, more than once someone whispered: "Rebel-scum" or "Dessert-rat" behind her back. The first few times she had jumped to teach them a lesson, but Hux stopped her. 

 "You need to be aware of your position." Hux had warned, "don't you dare cause any disturbance onboard this vessel!"

It was not a hollow threat, and it was only partially directed at her. Eventually, the officers just ignored her, as she ignored them. 

The new second in command, General Savo, was always a step behind Hux. Determined not to end up as his predecessor, the General managed the rest of the officers with merciless discipline and he always had somebody else deliver the bad news.

"Supreme Commander." The officer standing in front of Hux was visibly sweating as he bowed.

Hux looked up from the datapad.

"Resistance forces have taken down the Conqueror."

The silence was thick in the throne room, as Hux handed the datapad to General Savo.

"They took down yet another Star Destroyer?"

Rey lowered her head a bit to hide a smile. It was nice to see the First Order having some trouble and she was sure that it was Poe leading the attack.

It was a big secret inside the Resistance, but ever since the death of Han Solo, General Organa had slowly retreated from a lot of her responsibilities, making room for a new leader of the newly renamed Resistance Allied.

"How can a beaten Resistance, no more than 600 men, take down a fully operational Star Destroyer?!" Hux yelled at the officer, who had no answer.

Rey knew, but she wasn't going to tell him.

After the annihilation of the Hosnian system, General Organa had contacted the remaining leaders of the Republic, slowly convincing them that they had to fight against the First Order, raising finances and making alliances across the stars.

The legend of Luke Skywalkers last battle was spreading like wildfire and since the establishment of the new Resistance base, many had volunteered to fight. 

The Resistance Allied was only growing, and it was right under the nose of the First Order.

As if he could read her mind, Hux turned to glare at Rey. "Get that smile off your face!"

Rey lifted her head and looked him in the eyes. Challenging him. 

Obviously reminding himself who she was, he broke eye contact first and ordered the officer, bringing the bad news, degraded. 

-

Hux was a busy man and without concern for his officers, he kept working for nearly twenty hours before he retired to get some rest. 

It was admirable, but inhuman, as he expected everyone to follow his example. 

Rey was exhausted when she finally hit the hard madras in her room. With her lightsaber next to her head, she quickly drifted into an uneasy and constantly disrupted sleep.

She didn't feel like she had slept at all when she suddenly felt a presence in her room.

Only half awake, she igniting her lightsaber and turned to face the intruder. 

She stopped. 

Frozen in place, her eyes filled with tears, as the blue light from her lightsaber fell on the dark figure resting up against the wall. "Kylo." She whispered.

The image of him was solid, but she knew that he wasn't really there. This was a vision, of the same kind as those she had seen on Ahch-To. 

It wasn't him or her doing it, this was something else.

Kylo moved his head to look at her, and a tired smile formed on his lips.

"Rey."

Rey quickly turned on the light in her room and kneeled beside him. There didn't seem to bee any wounds, but with his black clothes, it was hard to be sure. 

She wanted to touch him, to make sure that he was all right, but something told her that she wouldn't be able to.

"How are you?" She asked.

In that second the image disappeared and she never heard the answer. 

Chapter Text

Kylo felt unbearably weak.

He had found a pleasantly deserted engine room on one of the lower levels. People rarely showed up down there, as it was somewhat dangerous and very cold to keep the engines from overheating.

It had already been days since he woke up in the crematory, just as a man in a white coat was stuffing him in a big oven. 

Now, he was forced to hide from the black BB-units maintaining the systems in the engine room.

He knew that he was on the Supremacy and that Rey was alive somewhere on the vessel.

He felt her, as a flickering light in the distance. He tried to reach for her, but she couldn't hear him and the effort exhausted him. 

She had most likely been used as a human battery, just like him. 

Had she defeated Kafia?

It was possible, but he couldn't be sure.

Impatiently he waited for his powers to return, but it seemed to take forever. His thoughts became dark; cursing Kafia, himself and his weakness.

While he was at his darkest moment, a blue light suddenly flared in the dim engine room. 

Kylo first thought he had been discovered by the droids, then he heard her voice saying his name.

"Kylo."

Relived to see that she was well enough to stand and hold her lightsaber, Kylo smiled. "Rey."

She was a breath of light in his darkened mind and he immediately felt warmed by her presence.

Other than the obvious absence of the Force, Rey seemed fine as she kneeled beside him. 

She opened her mouth to say something, but then the vision faded, and he was alone in the engine room once again.

-

Poe hurried to the hanger of the new Resistance base. He made it just in time to see the Millennium Falcon land. Soon after Finn and Chewbacca came down the boarding ramp.

"Perfect timing!" Poe said, as they greeted each other, "we have just confirmed the location of the Supremacy."

Finn's eyes grew large. "How?" He asked.

Poe shook his head, "I'll tell you in a bit."

Finn's brows drew together, as he followed Poe into the tunnels of the base.

"Did you have a nice trip?" Poe asked, trying to sound natural. 

Chewie answered discouraged.

"Don't say that." Finn had spent a lot of time with the Wookie and was slowly learning the language. "We will find her."

"We already have," Poe said, pointing to a conference room. 

Rose was already inside, the wounds she received in the Battle of Crait had completely healed and she smiled at Finn. He waved awkwardly and turned his attention back to Poe.  

When Finn and Chewie were inside, Poe made sure that the door was locked and turned on the confidentiality program, which prevented anyone on the outside from listening in on their conversation.

"You found her?" Finn's voice was eager. "Where is she?"

"Finn, sit down." Poe advised, "you too, Chewie."

They sat down, both very uncomfortable with Poe's seriousness.

"Five days ago, we received a pirate signal from a source somewhere in the Outer Rim. The connection was bad, but the source claimed to be Ray and, from the amount of knowledge she had, I'm sure that it really was her." Poe took a deep breath. "She begged us to let her transmit the coordinates of her location, as her last request."

"Last request?" Finn jumped from the chair. "What do you mean: Her last request?!"

"She is onboard the Supremacy, and it doesn't seem like she counts on surviving. She might already be dead."

Finn stood a second, processing what Poe had said. "We need to save her." He said, under his breath.

Chewie agreed.

"Yes," Poe said. "But I can't do this publicly. Rey chose to leave us, she chose..." Poe halted, unable to actually say who she had chosen. After closing his eyes for a second, he continued. "This transmission is proof that she is still on our side. I trust that she is. A scout has just confirmed the location of the Supremacy and the entire Resistance fleet is readying for the attack. I want the three of you to take the Falcon and, if possible, save her before the fleet arrives"

Finn glanced at Rose and nodded. "Just give us the coordinates." 

Poe gave Finn a firm look. "We cannot let a chance like this go by. When you find her, hurry out of there, because we won't hold back."  

Finn looked Poe in the eyes and gave him a firm nod. 

He would not let Rey die. 

-

"Finn!" Rose caught up to him, while he was headed for the provision-storage. "It's nice to see you. Thank you for... you know, saving me."

"Yes." Finn replied, distracted by the task at hand, "thank you."

"Did you even hear what I said?" Rose asked.

"Definitely." Finn headed for the provisions officer. "Hey!" He called, "this is urgent."

Rose shook her head and left him to bargain with the officer.

Chewie gave a consoling sound, as she entered the Falcon, but she was too blown away by the fact that she was actually going on a mission onboard the Millennium Falcon, to care about Finn.

Gently touching the walls, she marveled at the cockpit of the legendary ship, which, quite frankly, needed a woman's touch. 

A lot of the panels were left open, revealing a big mess of wires and tubes. With a single glance, she could see that at least three of the filters needed to be cleaned, some of the fuses were simply burned up and something was really wrong with the compressor. 

Rose rolled up her sleeves and opened her toolbox, glad to have something to do. 

Chapter Text

Kylo was there when Rey returned to her room at the end of the day.

At the sight of him, she hastily shut the door, irrationally afraid that the stormtroopers guarding outside would see him.

"Are you hurt?" She asked and sat down on the floor in front of him.

"It's nothing."

He was lying, she could see it in his eyes. Despite their visions, they were both pretty much powerless. Without any kind of medical treatment, water or food, Kylo was undoubtedly the one suffering the most.

Rey wanted to do something - to help him - but as she was constantly monitored, it was too dangerous. 

If they found him in that condition, he was as good as dead.

"Where are you?" Kylo asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"In my room," Rey answered.

"Your room?"

Rey smiled. "Yes, I'm the bodyguard of Supreme Commander Hux."

Though it clearly hurt him to move, Kylo couldn't help but laugh, "how did you get that position?" He asked with tears in his eyes.

"Hux is afraid of you," Rey explained. She knew just how ridiculous it all was. "After Kafia nearly killed him, and I sort of killed Kafia, I guess he figured that I would be strong enough to take you on."

"You are." Kylo assured her and looked her straight in the eyes, "but it's a trap."

Rey nodded. "Hux want's to kill you." 

"That's nothing new." Kylo's voice was exhausted from the effort of laughing. 

 "You are a treat to his position."

Kylo snickered, "the First Order won't follow me."

"They might." A thoughtful line appeared on Rey's forehead. "They follow strength, right? If you show them, that you are the strongest, they might follow you."

"It's not that simple." Kylo sighted.

Rey knew that he was right. It was never that simple. She reached out her hand, feeling a sudden need to touch him, but then the image disappeared. Leaving her alone on the floor.

She felt useless. 

If she could just give him some water. 

Their connection had been strong enough for them to touch on Ahch-To. Maybe, if she concentrated enough, she could give him a canteen.

Just... She didn't have a canteen. 

She didn't have anything other than her lightsaber and the clothes on her body, which wasn't even hers. 

All her belongings were still onboard the Specter abandoned on Lavadonna. Her Boe-staff, her tools, even... The Sacred Jedi Texts.

As the planet was uninhabited, and the Specter camouflaged, the chance of it getting stolen, were very low. But still... 

-

Rey yawned at General Savo, standing outside of her room, waiting to escort her to the Supreme Commander, as per usual.

As the Supremacy wasn't orbiting any planet nor sun it floated in endless night. 

Her only perception of time was the daily routine of Hux. She was awake, when he was awake, and slept when he was asleep. 

As she had seen visions of Kylo two days in a row, the amount of sleep she had gotten was limited.

"Straighten up." The General nagged and handed her a ration-bar. That, and some water, was the only food they gave her throughout the day. 

Her body didn't seem to need more, but the small amount and the fact that the General insisted on seeing her eat, made it impossible to hide some of it for Kylo - which was most likely the intent.  

Rey opened the packing and started eating the compact and tasteless bar. 

"People like you, are exactly why the Galaxy need the First Order." The general muttered. "Undisciplined thieves and murders, filth crawling all over the Galaxy."

Rey had heard it all before. The first couple of times, she had argued, saying something about free will and choice, but with time she grew tired of it and just closed her ears. 

It was the easiest way of handling it and... 

She couldn't ignore the tiny flicker of truth in the officer's arguments. 

The Galaxy was corrupted. 

Rey, herself, had experienced it firsthand. Being abandoned on Jakku at a young age and forced into scavenging for food. In an ideal world, a child should never have to worry about the next meal. 

The Republic may have had some influence in the Galaxy, but it never reached Jakku, where people lived solely by their own strength, and at the mercy of those stronger than themselves. 

It didn't condone the killing of civilians or the elimination of entire star systems, but she did see some sense in what they were trying to do. 

Hux had already started reading the first rapport of the day when they arrived at the throne room. "You are late." Were his only comment, as usual.

Rey went to her position at the wall and without a care for the officers, she sank into meditation possession on the floor and closed her eyes.

"What are you doing?" Hux asked.

"Meditating," Rey answered.

"Do that in your free time."

Rey opened her eyes and looked straight into the eyes of the Supreme Commander "I would if I had any. Don't worry, I won't fall asleep. I will be ready to save you if something happens."

Hux glared before turning his back to her, while Rey once again closed her eyes and started searching for the Force.

She found it, as a tiny flame in her chest. 

Fragile from the abuse, but still there. As part of herself. 

Rey reached out to the energy surrounding her and gently started to collect it. Lightly holding the life of the universe in her chest.

The flame flickered for a moment and then slowly started to grow, spurred on by her effort and concentration.

Slowly, her view started expanding and soon she clearly saw every living person on the vessel, spotting one in particular.

Kylo was in an engine room on one of the lowest levels. It would take her an entire day to get down there by foot. Which meant, that she would need some kind of big distraction to even have a chance. 

Her mind wandered, searching for some kind of food, close enough for Kylo to reach it. There wasn't a lot of edibles down there, but then she suddenly recognized the lifeforce of a particular stormtrooper, standing guard at the level above the engine room. 

Rey smiled, as she had just found a perfect middleman, to help her save Kylo.  

"Come on, Girl." It was the voice of General Savo, breaking her concentration. "Time to go back."

Chapter Text

Talock was very unsatisfied with his situation.

Leaving both Kafia and Rey behind, he had planned on stealing Kafia's shuttle and get the hell away from the First Order.

When he arrived at the hangar - where he was sure they had left the shuttle - a big ass Star Destroyer were parked in its place and the shuttle was gon.

Talock had no choice but to live the life of a stormtrooper and could only hope that no one ever noticed that he was definitely not a stormtrooper.

Now known as CL-2109, he was suddenly assigned to a hallway on the highest level.

It puzzled Talock a bit, as he normally monitored hallways outside the engine rooms. It was part of a collective punishment bestowed upon all the stormtroopers posted around the throne room on the day of the Kafia-incident.

Not one to notify the officers of their mistakes he was happy to get away from the freezing cold of the lower levels.  

Peacefully manding his post, as officers hurried past him, he caught sight of a familiar figure. 

It took him a little time to fully recognize her, as her appearance and the company which she was in, were too surreal.

Rey was clad in black, with an intimidating look on her face and walking alongside the Supreme Commander and his highest officers. 

Talock had to blink a few times to believe his own eyes.

He had never imagined Rey capable of siding with the First Order, and yet there she was clearly on good terms with the Supreme Commander himself.

Luckily, she didn't seem to recognize him.

Or so he thought... 

Not even an hour later she suddenly appeared, alone, and walking fast down the hallway. As she walked past him, she whispered something. 

Talock blinked wildly, as if he had just woken from a deep sleep, and somehow, found himself in the public fresher.

He had no idea how he got in there and she didn't give him time to wonder.

With a strong grip on his armor, Rey pulled off his helmet and looked him straight in the eye. "Hello, Talock."

"Rey, long time no see." He greeted, "it seems like you are doing well."

Her eyes narrowed. "I need you," she said. "If you do as I say, I will make sure you get off this ship, okay?"

He only nodded, unsure how to handle this new Rey.

Rey let him go. "Good." and then her intimidating aura evaporated. "You need to get some rugs, food, water, and beta-patches. And maybe a pillow if you can find one laying around. And vitamins, he probably won't take them, but you have to make him."

Talock held a hand up to make her stop. "Woaw... Who? Who am I going to give vitamins?"

Rey halted and hesitated for a second, then she whispered "Kylo," her voice was so low that he nearly didn't hear her.

"Kylo Ren?" He loudly asked before thinking. 

Rey reacted immediately, reaching her hand out and clawing it at him. He felt his body tense up in a powerful, invisible hold.

The seriousness of the situation was back, surrounding her like a thundercloud. 

"Keep your voice down!" She hissed, as she still had a strong hold on him, Talock couldn't answer.

"You will use those thieving skills of yours to sneak the things I just mentioned down to engine room C-44. There you will find a person, in need. You will not mention him or this conversation to anyone. You will not try to reveal his hiding place or betray us in any way." She paused, giving him time to process her words before she continued. "I will know if you betray us and I swear that you won't survive it." 

She loosened her grip just enough as for him to answer.

"Why don't you do it yourself?" Talock could have bit off his own tongue, as he had most likely just signed his own death sentence.

But Rey's anger slowly softened and she revealed a tiny, sad smile.

"I can't move freely." She answered, then her eyes became hard. "Do you understand, what you need to do?"

He nodded slightly and the grip around his body disappeared.

Rey nodded back, seemingly satisfied. "Good."

Something caught Rey's attention on the other side of the fresher door and it made her press the stormtrooper helmet back on his head. 

She went to wash her hands, just as the door slid open and a female officer walked in. 

Rey dried her hands and exited.

Talock quickly saluted the officer and hurried back to his post.  

Chapter Text

Kylo was looking out at the stars from the cockpit.

Ben, don't lean over like that.

Next to him was Han Solo, flipping switches and setting the Falcon on autopilot. Beneath the freighter, Kylo could see the blue-green planet Chandrila, the world he was born on.

And remember kid, not a word about this to your mother.

Kylo knew that he was dreaming.

He had dreamed about it before; the time his dad had taken him out on the Millennium Falcon for the first time.

The dream was the same as always, yet it seemed different. 

He was the boy sitting on the copilot seat - with his mouth hanging wide open in amazement - but his mind was his own.

Kylo was aware that he was no longer that innocent boy and that he would never see his father again.

As soon as the realization hit him, Kylo floated out of the body of the boy and materialized as a ghost behind the seat.

Han reached over and lifted the boy to his lab, as he started explaining all the different switches and buttons on the control panels.

You miss him.

Kylo flinched at the sound and looked at the source. 

A weirdly transparent man, emitting a soft blue light, looked back at him with the warm gaze of a parent.

Kylo was sure that he had never seen the man before, but he recognized the voice from somewhere. 

Who are you? Kylo asked.

The man smiled lightly. That depends on who you ask. Some call me Anakin, others prefer Dath Vader. No matter what you chose to call me, it doesn't change the man I was.

Kylo blinked, he knew that the man wasn't lying, but as he was used to the empty, deformed helmet of Dath Vader, Kylo had a hard time accepting this youthful man, as the same person.

Grandfather?

That word makes me feel kind of old. The man, who looked to be around Kylo's own age, chukled. 

Kylo was at a loss for words. He had asked his grandfather's advice so many times, but now, when he could actually get an answer, he couldn't think of anything to ask.

Anakin smiled, as if he saw Kylo's mind, and lay a hand on his shoulder. It is time you make your peace with the past. Anakin said, gesturing at Han and the boy.

I can never be Ben Solo again. Kylo's eyes turned away from the boy on Han's knee as if it was painful to look at.

Kylo Ren, Ben Solo. Why do you think you need to be one or the other?

Then the image dissolved around him.

Something had disturbed his dream. 

Kylo tried to grab the dream in his mind, he didn't want to wake up. Not now, when grandfather had finally responded to his call. 

A slight pain, an injection in his shoulder made the darkness around him complete.

Then something warm, wrapped around him. 

"Rey?" 

"No." A male voice, corrupted by the filters of a helmet, answered.

Kylo's eyes sprang open. 

Had he been able to move, he would have jumped to his feet and ignited his lightsaber. But in his weakened state, the movement became nothing but a slight twitch of his body. 

The stormtrooper turned to find a bottle of water, hidden in a wagon full of scrap metal and parts, "can you drink by yourself?" He asked.

Kylo looked at the bottle, and then up at the white helmet. "Who are you? Why are you helping me?"

"Just drink." The stormtrooper opened the bottle and put it in Kylo's hand, making sure it wouldn't tilt. Then some ration bars and different medical remedies were placed on the ground in front of Kylo.

"I will be back tomorrow" The stormtrooper announced flatly and left.

Greedily and against better judgment, Kylo gave in to his craving. He quickly emptied the bottle and consumed two of the ration bars. 

With a full stomach, he concluded that the stormtrooper was most likely send by Rey. It was a dangerous move, but... without it, he would probably have starved within days. 

Sitting back, he let the warmth of the blanket, the food, and the water settle in his body.

-

Rey stood at her post in the throne room when the image of Kylo appeared in front of her.

Briefly panicked, she silently reached out to him as per reflex: I can't speak now. Hux and his officers are too close.

Kylo was sitting up straight without leaning on anything and his eyes had a stronger, more healthy look than before.  Rey couldn't suppress a tiny smile.

I can hear you. He answered, and Rey's smile grew wider

Careful, Kylo warned her, unable to conceal a smile of his own, your emotions are showing on your face.

Rey forced her mouth into a straight line, but her eyes were still gleaming with happiness. 

The image of Kylo faded, but she knew that he could still hear her, he was still there. 

How are you? Kylo asked, softly in her mind.

I'm fine. Standing guard in the throne room is boring, but I can manage.

Are you really standing guard for him? Kylo seemed amused.

Yes. She answered. 

It was relieving to be able to communicate with him again. To feel his mind embrace her.

This was their thing, hers and his. 

Even if they told others about it, no one would ever fully understand the depth of their connection.

The stormtrooper, are you sure we can trust him?

Rey shook her head lightly, though she knew that he was unable to see her. No. But he is no friend of the First Order. He only wants to get away from here. I promised that he could come with us, and until he finds another way out, I have his loyalty. 

That sounds like a very strange stormtrooper, another defect?

Don't call it that. Rey didn't like the First Order habit of viewing human beings as products, and he isn't a real stormtrooper, it's Talock.

Talock?

The guy working with Kafia. He is from Jakku.

The guy who threw bombs at us and helped Kafia capture us?

Yes. Rey wasn't surprised by his disapproval. 

The one, who blackmailed you on Jakku?

She was a little surprised that Kylo remembered that, Yes.

How can you trust that man? His voice had a slight hint of blame in it.

Rey sighted. I had no choice. You were... Her voice died 

I would have managed on my own. Kylo stubbornly stated.

Kylo, please don't be like this.

In an intense moment, she felt the contained anger and his wounded pride.

Kylo?

Then the anger slowly melted away.

Rey, His voice was soft again, I need to see you, to touch you.

Rey felt the warmth in his words and it nearly made her forget all about Hux and the First Order and run straight to Kylo's arms.

She had to focus all of her effort to stay at her post. 

I miss you so terribly, Kylo. Rey took a deep breath to steady her mind, but they will attack us the moment they find out where you are. We need to find a way off the Supremacy first. 

Don't we have the shuttle?

It is heavily guarded, and a Star Destroyer is blocking the hangar gate.

Then we steal a TIE-fighter.

There is only room for two in those and we need a ship with a proper hyperdrive.

Do you really want to bring the stormtrooper?

Yes. Rey's voice was resolute. 

Hm.

I gave him my word. And you would have been dead by now if not for him.

Kylo growled in annoyance.

Rey ignored it. We need something bigger than a TIE-fighter; a freighter or a shuttle.

Kylo remained silent for some time.

What about a command shuttle? He finally asked.

Rey nodded. That would be perfect.

Hux has a specialized Upsilon-class shuttle, if you find out where it is, I know the passcode.

She shook her head. I can't, I have too many eyes on me. Make Talock do it, he blends in perfectly. 

Kylo didn't answer. 

How do you know Hux hasn't changed the passcode? She asked, changing the subject. 

Because he never doses. It has been the same code for every shuttle he has ever had.

Rey rose her brows, Isn't that strange for such a tactical man?

Maybe.

"what are you doing?"

Rey opened her eyes to see every officer in the room staring at her. Realizing that her facial expressions had changed according to their silent conversation.

"I was just arguing with myself." She tried to explain, knowing full well how stupid it sounded. She felt slightly embarrassed knowing that Kylo was most likely listening in.

"Do tell." Hux encouraged, his voice heavy with irony, "maybe we can be of some assistance."

Rey's expression hardened and she glared coldly at Hux. "It is a personal matter."

Hux scoffed, "Then keep it to yourself."

Rey returned to her bodyguard stand. I am too visible here. She whispered to Kylo, strictly keeping her facial expression in place, will you tell Talock to go look for the command shuttle?

I will. His mind brushed against hers. Sweetheart.    

The blood rushed to her cheeks and gave them a bright red color, which completely ruined her expressionless mask. 

Kylo chuckled, as his mind withdrew from hers. 

Chapter Text

Kylo was waiting in the shadows when the stormtrooper appeared with the wagon of metal parts. In a swift motion, Kylo had him by the neck and pressed him up against a pillar. Then he removed the white helmet without care for the face beneath it.

"you people really need to learn some basic manners." The fake stormtrooper admonished.

"I'm not the one throwing bombs." Kylo snarled.

The stormtroopers face seemed honest, though a bit tight-lipped as he answered: "Kafia forced me to help her."

"How convenient" Kylo mumbled as he pushed his way into the man's mind in search of a trap, conspiracy or treason. 

He only found the greed of a thief, the weak mind of a gambler and a selfish wish to get off the Supremacy as soon as possible. 

Going a bit deeper there was an old wound and a festering grudge. This man would never lift a finger for the First Order, not even to save his own life.

He was quite possibly the best ally they could hope for.

Satisfied Kylo let go of the stormtrooper, who slowly sank to the floor trying to recover from the uncomfortable experience.

"I hope you understand that this was necessary," Kylo said, as the only apology for his actions.

The stormtrooper lifted a few fingers as if to say: whatever.

Searching the wagon, Kylo found a few bottles of water and more food. He hesitated for a second before he threw one of the bottles to the stormtrooper.

While he had searched the man's mind, he had seen them together on Jakku. 

The fake stormtrooper and Rey, sitting side by side on top of a fallen AT-AT, watching the sunset and sharing food. Nothing but kids, holding hands for the first time.

Kylo clinched his fist.

Split between the desire to know exactly what else had happened between them, the urge to simply kill the man and the annoying fact that they needed him, Kylo had to put a lot of effort into keeping his movements and voice calm.

The man took a few sips of the water and leaned his head back against the pillar.

"Rey trusts you." Kylo declared. Eying the stormtrooper on the floor.

"That's quite an overstatement." The answer was accompanied by a cough of laughter.

"but you were her friend."

He flashed a smile, that some people might describe as charming. "Something like that."

Kylo glared as the stormtrooper got on his feet, once again reminding himself that he needed this man.

"so... what do you need me to do?"

"what makes you think that I need you?"

The man rose a brow, "Because if not, I would have been dead by now."

Kylo couldn't argue with that. "We need you to find Hux's command shuttle. You can identify it by two unique white lines down the sides of the cockpit. It should be in a hangar on the upper deck. When you find it, you report back to me, understood?"

In a long moment, the two just looked at each other. 

Then the stormtrooper picked up his helmet and left with a slight nod.

-

Being too focused on saving Rey, Finn hadn't noticed the impossibility of what they were trying to do. 

The realization hit him like a hammer after they had already crossed half the galaxy.

How were they going to land the Millennium Falcon – a ship known to every living being in the First Order – onboard their friggin gigantic flagship without anyone noticing it?

The answer was simple: They didn't.

"We have to find another way."

The words just blurted out of him and both Chewie and Rose turned in their seats to look at him.

"Another way?" Rose didn't seem to understand, neither did Chewie.

"We can't just fly up to the Supremacy and land on a hangar deck." Finn continued.

Chewie made an uninterested sound and turned back to the control panels, Rose stood from the seat of the second pilot and walked towards Finn.

"Of course, we can't." She said, looking up at him with a deep frown on her forehead and dragged him out of the cockpit. "We know that."

Finn looked like he had fallen from the sky, "you know?"

"Yes." She confirmed.

"Then... is there a plan?"

She nodded.

"Why hasn't anyone told me?"

Rose stopped, took a hold of his arms and pulled him down to look in her eyes, "we would have, but you were too busy thinking of Rey to listen."

Finn sank. "I'm sorry Rose. Rey, she is..."

"Special." Rose finished his sentence and let go of his arms, "I know, and I understand."

Unsure what he could say to somehow ease the tension, Finn instead stuck to asking what he really wanted to know, "what is the plan?"

Rose sighed and signaled for him to follow her to the cargo bay and a couple of lonely boxes. 

She lifted the lid of one of them and revealed a pair of black life-support TIE suits, which only made Finn confused. When he saw the content of the other box, he shook his head in disbelief.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Finn said, staring down at the jetpacks.  

Chapter Text

Chewie slowly angled the Falcon, trying his best to keep the ship quiet, as they approached the Supremacy from below.

"How are they not discovering us?" Finn asked looking up at the gigantic vessel.

"We have a baffler," Rose answered as if it was obvious.

Finn took off his jacket and placed it on the bench next to Rose "A baffler shouldn't be enough to conceal the presence of this ship."

"Well, a normal baffler isn't, but I designed this one to hide our energy signature from their scanners."

Finn turned his head and looked at her in surprise, "you made the baffler?"

"Yes." Rose didn't look up at him, occupied with getting her shoes off. "Is that so hard to imagine?"

Finn shook his head, "no, I knew that you were brilliant. This is just, I didn't see it coming."

He could see her blush, even though she kept her attention on the shoes. 

Unsure if it was a good thing or not, he kicked his own shoes off and stuck his legs in the black life-support suit.

"I always wanted to wear one of these." He mumbled as he closed the suite in front of him.

"Why?" Rose asked, as she had finally gotten the shoes off her feet and began to pull on the other suit.

"I wanted to be a pilot."

Rose nodded lightly to let him know that she had heard it, frowning at the long sleeves. The suit, which was clearly meant for a male TIE-fighter pilot, was way too big for her.

Lifting the helmet to put it on Fin wrinkled his nose, "It stinks!" He outburst and held the helmet away from himself.

"Of course, it stinks," Rose said, "where do you think the resistance got the suits?"

Finn's eyebrows lifted as he sent Rose a questioning look.

"From crashed TIE-fighters." She explained and pressed her lips tightly together as she put on her own helmet.

"Are you saying that people died in these suits?" He asked. Following her to the cargo lift.

"Just put it on." She sighed, her voice muffled by the filters in the helmet.  

As he was still hesitating, she snatched the helmet from his hands and stood on her toes to press it over his head. He attached the tubes himself seconds before the lift started opening under their feet.

-

The life-support suite would keep them alive for three hours in the cold vacuum of space. As the Falcon could not get too close to the Supremacy, it meant that they had no time waste.

A scan of the outer shields had confirmed Rose's theory. The big gap in the damaged part of the vessel confused the censors and made a blind spot just big enough for a person wearing a jetpack to sneak through.

They were extremely vulnerable flying in like that. One person looking out of a window at the wrong moment and they would have minimum one TIE-fighter attacking and no way to protect themselves.

Despite the incredibly dangerous situation, and the unsettling origins of the suit he was wearing, Finn found himself enjoying it. 

He quickly forgot about the unpleasant smell, as the sensation of being in the emptiness of space soon overshadowed everything else. 

Weightlessness and the ability to fly without a ship was without comparison.

If it wasn't for the Mega Star Destroyer directly above them, he would have categorized it as the most amazing thing he had ever experienced. 

Finn lightly shook his head, thinking that he might be so used to life-threatening situations, that it just didn't bother him anymore.

The thought was disturbing, and he suppressed an impulse to make a loop.

In front of him, Rose was passing by a laser cannon. Up close, and with her right next to it, it suddenly occurred to Finn how massive the outer cannons really was. If anyone at the controls above it discovered them, they would be in for a very quick death.

"Finn." Rose was calling him over the communication systems in their helmets, "look to your left, we need cover."

Finn looked, and a cold shiver went down his spine. Five TIE-fighters on patrol was heading right at them. They were still only tiny dots of light and by the looks of it, they hadn't spotted them yet.

"Can we get behind the cannon?" Finn asked, already heading in that direction. Cursing the jetpacks for not being able to fly any faster.

"Maybe," Rose answered, just a few meters ahead of him. As she got a hold of the side of the cannon, she started clawing herself up to the base, "maybe, we don't need to."

Finn looked up at the shadows where the cannon was attached and followed her example.

When they reached the top, they turned off the jetpacks and pressed themselves into gaps in the metal structure securing the cannon.

In several long minutes, they waited. Fin could hear the beating of his own heart and felt how

Rose checked the status of the life-support suits and impatiently cast a glance at the TIE-fighters still heading their way. 

Finn could hear his own breath rasping in the tubes of the helmet. 

Now that they weren't moving anymore he started to feel slightly dizzy. 

They were running thin on oxygen and there was still at least 500 meters to the big gap dividing the Supremacy in two. 

"Let's go." Rose suddenly said. 

Finn blinked trying to remember where he was. 

His mind cleared when Rose took a strong grip on his shoulder, "are you all right?" 

Finn nodded, and they hurried onward, staying close to the underside of the vessel, just in case the TIE-fighters should return.

-

A lonely stormtrooper stood guard by the edge of the big building project that should reattach the left wing to the main part of the supremacy. He had nothing much to do other than admire the view of the ongoing construction.

First, the inner side of the rift had been closed off, making sure that people didn't walk right out into space if they opened the wrong door. Then they built anchors, to keep the two parts in place, and tunnels, for people to safely travel from one part of the supremacy to the other.

It would most likely take a couple of years before the vessel was fully operational again, even with the entire crew working on the repair.

"FN-4457, state your report," the voice of his squad leader demanded from the speaker in his helmet.

"Nothing to report." The stormtrooper answered moments before his entire body got sucked out of the room from a door that shouldn't be able to open.

Rose and Finn crawled into the room and as soon as the door closed behind them they fell to the floor. Removing their helmets, they both drew in as much air as their lungs could contain.

"That was too close." Rose panted, lying on her back next to Finn.

"Don't worry." Finn answered between heawy breaths, "you'll get used to it eventually." 

Chapter Text

Kylo was stronger.

The food, water, and medicine had done miracles for his body, but he was growing impatient.   

It had been two days since he last saw the fake stormtrooper. Rey was always with him, keeping him company over their bond, but he hated that he was unable to move around freely. 

It didn't help that Rey was just as trapped as he. If it was up to him, he would have her come right down to the engine room, but she was stubborn and insisted that they would be finished if the First Order discovered his location. 

Meditating in the throne room Rey would gather her energy and gently let it flow to him over their connection. 

He had told her not to, but she did it anyway. 

The only thing he could do was send some of his own right back to her. Ensuring that she would not harm nor weaken herself in the attempt to heal him.

Sharing their powers like that, they didn't feel like separate people anymore.

They were one.

Two halves of a whole; connected in the Force.

The sensation was almost addictive. That kind of purpose, fullness, and balance was something he had never experienced before. 

Kylo realized that it was what he had always been searching for.

He once believed that he could find it by fully accepting of the Dark Side of the Force, but he had been wrong.

This sensation was not of the Dark Side.

And he was sure that it didn't exist on the Light Side either.

It was both.

While connected like that, time seemed futile. The memories seemed without end or beginning. 

Rey's life scavenging on Jakku; Azrakiel with bloody teeth; the boy Ben Solo; the man that was Kylo Ren; the first time the Force had connected them; Rey standing guard in the throne room; their reunion in the prison on Amania; Kylo Ren Killing Han Solo; an endless amount of kisses; Kafia attacking again and again; Kylo sitting in the darkness of an engine room.

Rey sitting in an empty room, stroking a big pregnant belly.

The last image made Kylo snap out of it and the otherworldly feel disappeared from their minds.

Are you pregnant? He whispered the question in her mind, sounding as if he was both afraid and excited to hear the answer.

A moment passed, as she felt her own body.

I don't think so. Rey answered. She didn't seem sure. I don't feel different than usual, I guess I would if I was pregnant.

You guess? Kylo frowned.

I have never been pregnant before and it isn't really a subject anyone discussed back on Jakku. Fear made her voice vibrate slightly as the possibility slowly took a hold in her mind. 

Do you throw up all the time? Kylo had only ever met one pregnant woman, and the morning sickness was the only thing he remembered about her. 

No. Rey answered.

Good, Kylo said, then you are not pregnant.

He felt her relief as a calming wave in his mind, rolling in and gently surrounding his own feelings and thoughts. 

He wanted children, and he wanted to have them with Rey, but not now, not while they were in this messed up situation. 

Rey's feelings were similar. She was not ready to be a mother. She felt too young and had too many issues with the world around her.

She wanted a family, more than anything else. Yet, all she had experienced since she stole the Millennium Falcon back on Jakku had awakened something inside her. A desire to change the galaxy. 

She wanted to create a better future. A united world.

It was a dangerous dream and she couldn't bear the thought of neglecting or abandoning a child because of it.

She had changed so much since they had first met in the forest on Takodana. 

Rey, Kylo spoke softly. If we survive this, will you marry me?

Surprise and a hint of panic flickered in her mind and he quickly continued. 

We don't need to have children right away, he assured her, but I want to be with you for the rest of my life, and I want everyone to know that we belong together. We can work to change the world, you and I. Together. 

His mouth ran away with him as he tried to explain himself, and by some miracle, it actually worked. 

Rey's emotions changed. He felt her happiness, so strongly that Kylo himself couldn't help but smile widely. It bubbled over in her chest and slowly flooded his mind.

Don't you dare die.  She whispered softly, but failed to answer his question as a loud noise distracted both their thoughts. 

Chapter Text

As the flagship of the Resistance Allied jumped out of hyperspace, everyone on the command bridge went silent. 

Only a few of them had seen the Supremacy before and they had witnessed it torn to pieces by Vice Admiral Holdo.

No one had expected that now, only six months later, it would already be reconnected by tunnels and anchors, fully able to function as a well-defended battle station.

"For goodness sake, it's only a ship." General Organa said, breaking the silence.

Poe glanced at her as the officers hurried back to their duties. 

She seemed tired, though she did her best to hide it. 

Stubborn, as she was, she had worked night and day to establish the Resistance Allied, gathering people and arranging the first ever council meeting in the new organization, debating the recent discovery of the location of the Supremacy.

He held out a chair for the General to sit on, but only got a disapproving glare as she took a standing position in the middle of the room.

"Are we ready?" She asked out loud, getting confirming responses from all around her. 

Satisfied, she turned to Poe. "We need our best pilot out there today," she said, "jump in an X-wing and blow something up."

Poe smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Yes, ma'am!" 

Then he was off to the hangar. 

-

The alarm sounded high and demanding and reached every corner of the Supremacy.

It startled both Rose and Finn and spurred them on as they both knew what it meant.

They could clearly hear the sound of marching feet and orders shouted in the corridors. 

"Can't you do it faster?" Finn asked, standing at the door and nervously keeping a look out over the barrel of a blaster. He had stolen it from the knocked out stormtrooper lying on the floor.

"It's not easy hacking their systems without a droid." Rose hissed back at him, standing bent over a control panel. 

A few long minutes passed. 

"Got it." Rose's eyes searched down the screen, "the prison and the interrogation department are on the fifth level, sector C."

"Sector C?" Finn asked, looking at the big "L" labeling the hallway. "That's in the other end of this bloody ship!"

"Yes." Rose said, "we better get moving."

-

In the throne room, the sharp noise broke Rey's concentration and she opened her eyes to see everyone rushing out.

What is going on? Kylo asked

I don't know yet. Rey replied following the officers to the upper bridge. Once there, she immediately got a 180⁰ view of exactly what was going on.

In every direction, she saw one battleship after another appearing out of hyperspace. Multiple command ships, bombers, and fighters. 

The  X-wing fighters were easily recognizable amongst the diversity of the other ships and in a clear statement of unity, they had decorated every major vessel with the Starbird symbol and the letters RA.

They are here, Rey half mumbled, half thought to herself. Taken aback by the size of the fleet, now closing in on the Supremacy from three different sides.

Who? Kylo asked, Rey, what is going on?

The Resistance. She answered, the Resistance Allied is attacking.

How can they attack the Supremacy? Kylo didn't seem to believe it, though he knew that she wasn't lying. 

She didn't blame him, even as it played out in front of her eyes, she still thought it unbelievable.

The Resistance is allied with a lot of worlds, free traders and what is left of the Republic, they call it the Resistance Allied. The destruction of the Hosnian system finally gave the different leaders a good enough reason to stand united against the First Order.  

How do you know about this?

Well... as a Jedi, I was one of the leaders of the RA, before I was captured.

You knew all this time? 

Yes.

And you didn't tell me?

Rey's attention slowly drifted away from their conversation. 

It's not like I was hiding it, she answered automatically as she observed her surroundings. 

Around her, the bridge was buzzing with officers, all shouting orders left and right with the stoic voice of Supreme Commander Hux dominating them all. 

"What is status on the Star Destroyers?" Hux asked an officer. The officer stated the data for each Star Destroyer in the hangars. 

They had two fully operational Super Star Destroyers already heading out of the hangar and several more only waiting for the crew to get onboard. The officer went on to talk about Lancer-class frigates and heavy and light cruisers heading out of the hangars. 

When Rey sent the coordinates, she imagined a few members of the resistance sneaking onboard, gathering information or rescuing prisoners, but this... this was full-on war.

Two massive fleets in the ultimate display of power.

"This is madness." She uttered under her breath.  

Through the transparasteel of the command bridge, she saw the darkness of space turn to a flashing display as the TIE-fighters engaged in battle, trying to eliminate the many bombers closing in on the Supremacy. 

Meanwhile, fighters of the RA tried to protect the bombers.

Soon the laser cannons of the Supremacy and the Star Destroyers joined in and eliminated one bomber after another. 

This wasn't going to end well for anyone.   

She could feel the lives disappearing out there. Millions of voices screaming in her mind, turning into a blurry mass. 

It was all her fault.  

Rey had to take a strong grip on herself not to drop on the spot.

Are you passing out? Kylo's voice was hard but full of concern.

No, I can keep it together

Good, you need to get away from the brig. He commanded. 

Rey didn't answer. 

At that minute a bomber dropped its load one of the Star Destroyers. 

A deafening blast drowned the sounds of thousands of laser cannons as the warship was blown apart, taking more than a few fighters down with it. 

Rey...? Can you hear me?

Rey didn't hear him. 

She turned her head a bit and looked at Supreme Commander Armitage Hux, the proud leader of the First Order. 

Standing with his back to her, furiously shouting at his officers. 

Looking around, she discovered that there weren't that many stormtroopers on the bridge. 

The officers were not trained to fight. Most of them only knew how to use a blaster pistol and only a few had one at hand.

Rey's fingers ran down the cold surface of her lightsaber, hanging at her side. 

She could end it right now.

Cut off the head of the organization and order a ceasefire.

Rey, NO! Kylo was reading her mind and enforced his voice to make sure she would listen, if you kill him, you only repeat the mistakes of the past. Killing Snoke didn't bring an end to the First Order, neither will killing Hux. They will kill you and someone else will step in his place.

Rey closed her eyes for a moment. 

Would you kill him? she asked.

Yes, I would. He answered, knowing that there was no point in trying to lie.

But you want me to let him go? Rey asked.

Yes. Rey, please get off the bridge.

Kylo was right, but...

Chapter Text

The buzz of a lightsaber suddenly made a cold shiver travel down the spine of Supreme Commander Hux. 

Stopping in the middle of a command he looked sharply over his shoulder as if Ren could suddenly materialize from thin air.

Momentarily relieved, he discovered that the blade flaring behind him was not the bloodred signature color of Kylo Ren, but instead clear and blue. 

Still, fear crept into his mind as the girl's stand, the expression on her face, and especially her eyes reminded him of a predator. She was like a tightly pressed spring, ready to jump at any moment. Her gaze full of determination and bearing an unspoken challenge.

Instinctively he backed away from her, yelling to get the attention of the stormtroopers. They immediately reacted and slowly encircled her, wary of the legendary weapon in her hand. 

Hux grabbed his own blaster pistol and fired the first shot, only to have it deflected by a swing of her lightsaber. 

Hux growled as he saw a scornful smile on the girl's face.

"Shoot her!" He commanded and the stormtroopers immediately started firing, helped by the few gun-bearing officers present on the bridge.

Twirling around and moving inhumanly fast she deflected every single shot with ease.

The officers without guns, currently hiding behind the control units, were dumbfounded by the young woman, who was standing her ground and winning against a hailstorm of blaster shots directed at her from all sides.

They had only seen that kind of power in two other individuals; Kylo Ren and Supreme Leader Snoke himself.

-

Rey enjoyed the sense of power rushing through her bones. 

She could feel the fear spreading on the command bridge. She was too much for them to handle, and they were all realizing it.

Smiling darkly, she decided to end her little game and jumped at the stormtroopers. Slicing one in half and decapitating another, she moved all the way around in the circle they had formed around her. 

Moving to the still shooting officers, she quickly wiped them out. 

As the last one fell, she felt someone moving behind her. 

She turned and saw a foolishly brave officer reach for one of the many blasters scattered on the floor. 

Relishing in the sensation of complete superiority, Rey smiled as she buried the blue blade in his chest, efficiently stopping anyone else from following his example. 

Yanking the lightsaber from the dead body a thin line of blood splattered over her right eye, making a single red trace down her cheek. 

Then she turned to Hux.

Everyone stared at her, stunned and horrified by her actions.

As she took a step towards Hux, the panic was clearly visible on his face. 

He backed away from her while firing his blaster pistol at her, again and again.

Rey deflected every shot, tossing them around the command bridge as if they were playing a bizarre game of catch.

"Do something!" Hux yelled at the officers, but they didn't move. 

They knew that he was done for, and none of them had any desire to die alongside their doomed leader. Even General Savo stood perfectly still, observing from a safe distance. 

-

Hux's back was now pushed up against the transparasteel.

Behind him, the battle was still going on. Some of the bombers were getting dangerously close.

Rey reached out and tore the blaster pistol from his hand with the Force. Clinching her fist, the pistol curled around itself before it hit the ground.

Narrowing her eyes, she fixed his body, forced him to his knees and turned him to face the battle outside.

"Is this your way of bringing order to the galaxy?" She asked, placing the scoring blade of her lightsaber so close to his throat that he could feel it burn millimeters under his chin. 

Outside a bomber finally caved under multiple hits from the laser cannons of the Supremacy and fighters, both X-wings and TIE-fighters, were caught in the following explosion.

"Every just cause demands sacrifice," Hux answered, believing every word. 

On the transparasteel he saw himself mirrored over the aggressive battle and took pride in the colossal strength of the First Order. 

He was their Supreme Commander. He had no regrets and he would die with dignity.

Looking up a bit, Hux intended to face his executor through the reflections on the hard surface. 

He expected to once again see the raw and untamed bloodthirst in her eyes but was surprised to discover that it had all disappeared. 

Instead, dread made tears roll down her cheeks while she stared, not at him, but at herself.

As her shaking hand turned off the lightsaber, Hux was almost disappointed in her lack of resolve and the anger boiled up inside him. 

Powerful or not, he had spotted a weakness and he intended to make full use of it. 

At that moment the entire vessel shook violently, as a bomber dropped its bombs directly on a sweet spot. 

Rey lost her balance and keeping a firm hold in the Supreme Commander, she dragged him down with her. 

Chapter Text

Kylo's heart was pounding wildly as he made his way through the corridors.

Cursing Rey, Hux, the Resistance, the First Order, Kafia and everybody else in the damned galaxy.

Jumping an elevator to the 25th level he had a hard time standing still.

Why did she have to be that way? 

Why couldn't she just do as she was told?

Though Rey was shutting him out of her head, he was fully aware of what she was doing. He felt her heroic intentions of using Hux as a hostage to stop the battle, yet she had quickly started to enjoy it.

The thrill of power.

He knew that feeling too well to mistake it for anything else.

Damn! Damn! Damn!

Tapping his foot on the floor he had to use all his willpower to keep from venting his frustrations on the controls. He had no time for the elevator to break down now.

The doors had barely opened before his long steps brought him to the next one.

Luckily, most of the troopers were too busy with the space-battle outside the Supremacy to care much about what happened on the inside.

-

Finn and Rose hurried down yet another corridor when Finn suddenly stopped.

Running right into his back, Rose groaned and rubbed her nose, "Finn, why..."

"shush!" He slowly forced her back around the corner.

"What is going on?" She asked as they stood with their backs against the wall.

Finn nodded against the corner, signaling her to see for herself.

When she peeked out, she saw a big man clad in black, impatiently waiting for the elevator at the end of the corridor.

"Who is that?"

Finn's eyes widened. "Who is that!?" He mimed, afraid that the man would hear him, and formed the words with his mouth. "That is Kylo Ren!"

Rose looked again. "Rey's man?" She asked, innocently unaware of the monster before them.

Finn clinched his fists and grounded his teeth, how could that be the first thing she thought when hearing that name?

"He is not her man!" Finn declared, as loudly as he dared.

Rose ignored him and swiftly walked around the corner, Finn immediately got a hold of her and forced her back into hiding. "What do you think you are doing?!"

"Rey left the Resistance to be with him, right?" She stated. Finn reluctantly gave a small nod. "Then he should know where she is."

A small ding sounded. They heard the doors of the elevator open and then close as the man was lifted up through the many layers of the Supremacy.

Rose hurried to see which floor he was getting off on. "10th floor, that's as high as this elevator goes."

"We are lucky that he is heading in the opposite direction" Finn mumbled, "let's get going"

"Do you want to find Rey?" Rose was impatient as she pressed the button to call the elevator back down and didn't wait for his answer. "Our best chance is to follow her lover."

Finn wanted to yell at her that Rey and Kylo Ren couldn't possibly be lovers, but he managed to keep calm.

Rose was right, and he knew it.

Deep down, in the darkest corner of his soul, he had hoped that Kylo Ren would simply dump Rey in a cell. That it had all been an act to catch her and that she would finally realize the truth.

Realize that Kylo Ren was and always would be; a Monster.

But there was no information on her in the prison files. It was unlikely that she had ever been down there.

Trying to find Rey on board the Supremacy was like looking for a flower in the desert. Nearly impossible, as they had nothing to hint at her location. 

Until now.

If she was still alive, she would be somewhere near Kylo Ren.

Finn was sure of it.

"Well, then I guess we are going up." He sighed. 

They had only just entered the elevator when the world began to shake around them. Explosions sounded as hollow echoes from the hull of the vessel. 

The light in the elevator blinked a couple of times, then it turned red.

"The bombers are here," Finn mumbled. Somehow, he was now embracing Rose, holding her close to his chest to shield her body from the impact.

Rose pushed him away and started looking at the controls of the elevator, which had stopped moving.

"It is only an emergency lockdown." She said, hiding her red face behind her bangs, breaking the control panel open with a twist of her screwdriver.

"You can make it move again?" Finn asked, once again surprised by her technical knowledge.

Rose nodded. "Yes, but would you give me some space?"

He stepped back. Feeling useless as she was working the wires.

Then the light turned white and the elevator came to life once again, hastily shooting them upwards.

-

Rey rubbed her head. 

She had no idea how long she had been unconscious. 

The vessel had finally stopped moving. A new alarm, sharper and more insisting than the last one, sounded on the control bridge accompanied by voices shouting orders. 

No one took special notice of her or the big redheaded man lying knocked out on top of her.

They had fallen off the main bridge and landed about 2 meters under the viewpoint, where she had been about to execute him.

Her stomach turned as she remembered her own actions.

She had killed more times than she wanted to count, but it had always been to protect herself or someone she cared about. To survive or protect, when there was no other option.

But this time, she quickly forgot the people she was supposed to save. 

She had never felt like that before. That... rush.  

It had been so easy and she only felt empowered by every kill. Blood pumping through her wains and pure joy as she sliced down one inferior enemy after another. 

Her own reflection had scared her. 

It still did. 

Rey remembered her own satisfied smile while holding her lightsaber at the neck of a defenseless man. 

Dark and murderous and loving it.

She had lost herself just like that.

Wrapped up in her own mind, Rey didn't notice, that the man on top of her had started to slowly move.    

Chapter Text

While Rey was disoriented by the fall and distracted by her own thoughts, Hux managed to swiftly move on top of her, pinning her down with his knees and enclosing her neck with his hands.

The orderly military commander was long gone. His eyes burned with uncontrollable rage as he watched her gasp for air.

Grinning his teeth with a triumphant smile he pressed his thumbs into her neck, doing his best to crush it. 

Rey reacted on reflex and brutally slammed a Force barrier in between them, unaware of the power she put into the blow.

As Hux got flung from her body it felt like he almost ripped her windpipe from her throat.

Coughing with tears in the corners of her eyes, she took to her neck. It was still whole, but there would be some nasty bruises in the morning. If she survived to see a new morning.  

Getting to a sitting position on the floor, she looked at the lifeless man lying a few meters away.

Was he dead?

She couldn't tell.

Rey's heartbeat quickened as she reached out to him with the Force.

"Please don't be dead." She whispered, searching for a sign of life, and sighted in relief as he started breathing.

On the bridge, the yelling of orders was increasing. Another bomber was getting dangerously close.

Kylo, she could feel him approaching.

Another load of bombs exploded, making the vessel shake around her and threw her defenseless body left and right. 

When the shaking finally subdued, the voices above had disappeared, leaving the alarm to dominate all sound.

Her body was hurting all over, her neck felt as if it was on fire and there would no doubt several bruises coloring her body in the morning; if she lived to see it. Taking a hold of herself Rey got to her feet and climbed the slim stairs leading back up to the now empty bridge.

Looking at the ongoing space battle, it was obvious that the Resistance Allied was winning. The Supremacy had taken more than just a few serious hits. There was only one functioning Star Destroyer and a handful of TIE-fighters left ferociously fending off the attackers.

The officers were most likely heading to the escape pods.

Kylo...

She knew that he was there long before he appeared in the doorway, panting heavily with sweat dripping from his dark and messy hair.

Stormtroopers were shooting at him, but he didn't seem to care. In a manner of seconds, he disabled them and walked in. His eyes glued to her as if she would disappear if he looked away, even for a second. 

At that moment nothing else mattered. Rey ran to him, and threw her arms around his neck, ignoring the pain of the action. Her bruised body finally relaxed as he embraced her with his one free arm, keeping his ignited lightsaber at a safe distance from her. 

Desperately holding on to each other they kissed for the first time in what seemed like an eternity. 

In his embrace, she felt all the tension and worry leave her body and the pain disappeared for a short while. 

As he sat her down, he looked her over as if to make sure that she was all right. His eyes fell on her swollen neck, on the bruises, and on her messy hair. He used the palm of his hand to rub some of the blood from her face. 

Tears formed in her eyes, contradicting the huge smile on her lips. 

Then the sound of blasters and yelling voices demanded their attention.

Taking a step away from Kylo, Rey ignited her lightsaber and with their eyes on the door. 

Waiting for whoever was heading their way. 

All sounds disappeared as a ball of scoring heat hit Rey's shoulder from behind and made her body jerk forward. 

With a choked scream the movement forced her down on one knee as she curled her left arm to her chest in pain. 

10 meters behind her, Hux was clinging to the staircase railing, still looking over the blaster pistol in his hand.

An animalistic roar came from Kylo as his hand shot forward against him. The Force enclosed Hux and lifted him from the stair treads by the neck.

"No!" Rey took a hold of Kylo's trousers, "don't kill him."

Kylo didn't react nor reply.

All his attention was concentrated on the angry face of Supreme Commander Hux, as it was slowly turning blue.

It took all Rey's effort to grip his arm, give a hard pull on it and finally claim his attention. "Don't kill him." She pleaded as if her own life depended on it. "You are repeating the mistakes of the past."

Looking into her eyes, the dark cloud seemed to clear a bit and Kylo gave in to her plea.

Though, to make sure Hux wouldn't try to shoot them again, Kylo released him right on top of the staircase and with a grunt of pain Hux tumbled back down. 

Kylo kept his eyes on Hux until he disappeared from sight, then he kneeled beside Rey to get a look at her wound.

The bolt had burned through her clothes and caused a serious burn on her shoulder blade, but as far as he could see, there was no severe bone damage. "Can you move your fingers?" He asked and watched as she clinched and releases her left-hand fingers, "good," as her wounded shoulder didn't bleed there was no danger of her suffering from blood loss. "Can you stand?"

Rey nodded, clenched her teeth and slowly rose from her kneeling position and ignited her lightsaber, "I can fight." She stated, turning her attention to the door.

-

The elevator opened on bridge level.

"Seems like the right place," Rose confirmed, as she saw more than just a few hurt or dead stormtroopers with unmistakable lightsaber wounds. "There isn't that many left standing, you can handle them, right?"

Finn looked thunderstruck. "Handle them?"

Deciding that wasn't a good time to start arguing, he swallowed his objections to her obvious delusions and made sure the blaster in his hand was fully loaded.

Then he took his blaster pistol from its holster. "Do you know how to use one of theirs?"

Rose nodded and pressed the safety switch.

"Good, follow closely behind me and don't shoot unless you have to." He ordered before he jumped out of the elevator, quickly eliminating the five standing stormtroopers in the hallway. 

Signaling Rose to keep quiet, they followed the trail left behind by Kylo Ren.

They didn't walk for a long time before Finn shot down yet another stormtrooper, and one more and one more. He was lucky to catch them off guard as they were looking for survivors between the bodies on the floor.

Their luck didn't last. Suddenly the unmistakable sound of multiple armored troopers was getting dangerously close and soon the first blast bolt hit the wall beside Rose.

"Run!" Finn said and instinctively took her hand as more blaster bolts hit the spot where Rose had just been.

"I can't run as fast as you can." Rose huffed, getting dragged along by Finn.

"Sure, you can," Finn replied, shooting a couple of bolts at the stormtroopers behind them before he carried on. He could see an open door up ahead... if they could just get in there, they had a chance. "See that door? It's just a little further."

Rose saw it, but she didn't have the air to answer.

When they reached, Finn flung Rose inside, shooting wildly at the stormtroopers and pressed the button to make the door close behind him.

Rose made a sound behind him and he spun around, ready to shoot down whoever was in the room.

He blinked in surprise as he saw Rey, standing a few meters away, alive and with her glowing lightsaber in hand.

"Rey." He said her name as if to confirm to himself that it was really her, "Rey! You are okay! How..." He stopped himself. 

She was obviously not okay, her left arm was cramped into her chest, all clad in black her hair was shiny with sweat and she had blood on her hands and on her face. 

By her side stood the man obviously responsible for it all.

The bloodred, violently burning, lightsaber in his hand stood as clear proof of his true nature.

Finn leveled his blaster and aimed for Kylo Ren, expecting to get blown against a wall at any given moment.

The monstrous man turned his head slightly to look over at Rey. 

Rey shook her head and... replied?

Poe had told him about it before, how the two of them seemed able to have silent conversations with each other. Back then Finn didn't believe it, because... it was impossible.

But now, it suddenly seemed very possible, and it was pissing him off.

"Stop doing that!" Finn demanded, gaining the attention of both Rey and the monster.

"Finn, put the blaster down." Rey's voice seemed a bit hoarse, had he been choking her?

Finn glanced at the finger-formed bruises forming on her neck and snarled.

"Put it down." This time it was Rose talking. She placed her gloved hand on the barrel and punched it downward.

"But he..."

"I know." Rose cut him off, "but that's not why we're here. Look at that!" She gestured to the space battle outside. "We need to get away from here. Now!"

Reluctantly, Finn lowered the blaster.

"Thank you, Finn," Rey said as she turned off her lightsaber and hugged him.

Finn wrapped his arms around her, making sure not to touch the burned area of her shoulder and received a cold glare from Kylo Ren. 

He returned the glare over Rey's shoulder.

Letting go of him, Rey sat by one of the control units for a minute. She was clearly exhausted. 

"This isn't over," Finn promised, weaving the barrel of his blaster at Kylo Ren, who seemed entirely unthreatened by it.

Beside him, Rose was talking into a communicator. "Wait, slow down... Chewie, what do you mean, Busy?!"

The answer to Rose's question revealed itself as the Millennium Falcon passes so close by the viewpoint that it made the entire bridge vibrate. 

Four TIE-fighters followed on its tail, one of which came too close and crashed right below the viewpoint, making cracks appear in the transparasteel. 

Chapter Text

Rey looked from the cracks in the transparrasteel, to Kylo's closed off expression and on to the grim look on Finn's face. 

"Was that our ride?" She asked.

Finn nodded.

"So, what do we do?" The girl next to Finn asked, "steal a TIE-fighter?"

Rey had seen the girl a couple of times before back on the new Resistance Base. Her name was Rose if she remembered correctly. A fairly grounded girl with great skills as a technician and head over heels in love with Finn.

"No." Rey's throat was sore and hurt as she spoke, but she did her best to ignore it, "there is only room for two on those and they require an extraordinarily skilled pilot. Finn is no pilot, I can't fly with my wounded shoulder and unless you have hidden talents..."

"I don't," Rose admitted.

"If there are any escape-pods left, it's only because the officers are fighting to determine who will use them," Finn stated.

Did Talock ever report back to you? Rey silently asked Kylo.

Kylo observed the Falcon make a loop to avoided enemy blasters. If he had, we would have left this piece of junk a long time ago.

Rey's eyes fell on the top of the stairs, then we need him.

Who? Kylo asked, still with his eyes on the Falcon.

Rey was already standing, Hux.

"No." Kylo was instantly snapped back to reality and stepped in between her and the stairs.

"If anyone knows where that command shuttle is, it's going to be him," Rey argued with her strained voice. 

"We can't trust him!"

"We don't have a choice."

"What are you talking about?" Finn broke in, rushing to Rey's aide.

Rey didn't avert her eyes from Kylo, "he can't harm us." She pleaded.  

Working his mouth, Kylo saw her point, but he was not happy about the idea.

Finn's gaze jumped from one to the other, understanding that now was not the time to speak. 

Then Kylo turned without a word to retrieve the man he had just thrown down the stairs.

Finn crouched a brow, "what were you talking about?"

Rey took to her shoulder, the skin around her wound was throbbing and burning hot, "that's a long story, Finn. I'll tell you later." 

Kylo dragged Hux up the stairs as one would a heavy bag; with one strong grip in the back of his collar. Kylo dropped him on the floor as soon as he came back to the small group,  

"You, girl!" Kylo pointed to Rose "Find something to bind his hands."

"Is that... General Hux?" Finn asked, but no one answered. 

Unaware of what was going on, Rose fished some string from a pocket and kneed the unconscious man in the back as she bound his hands together.

"Good, get him up." Kylo continued.

Hux was too big for Rose to move alone and her eyes turned to Finn. He caught her glance and looked down at Hux.

"Hell no!" He answered.

She didn't say anything, she just continued to look up at him. 

Finn lasted for another second. Then he threw his arms in the air in frustration.

"This better be worth it," Finn mumbled as he walked over and helped push Hux up in a sitting position against a control panel. 

Kylo took a hold of the unconscious man and shook him roughly. Nothing happened. Kylo growled. As he was making ready to slap the last bit of life out of Hux, Rose hurried over and poured a bottle of water over Hux's face.

He huffed and spat and shook his head free of water, then he glared around at all of them.

"You will lead us to your command shuttle." Kylo stared. 

His nostrils began to flare as he looked at Kylo, "why should I?" He asked between clenched teeth.

Kylo took an ungentle hold in his bruised face and turned it so he could see the space battle and the cracks in the transparasteel. Hux clearly knew exactly what would happen to the bridge if even a single shot hit near those cracks. 

"You think you have a choice?" He asked, "you won't get up the stairs with that leg."  

Hux glanced at his right leg, where blood was slowly expanding a big dark spot on the fabric of his pants. He made an almost invisible nod signaling that he understood. 

Finn took a hold of Hux, helped him to his feet and held him up by an arm. "Which way, Ginger?" He asked. 

Hux scoffed and nodded at the door where Kylo, Finn, and Rose had entered. 

On the other side of that door, there would only be stormtroopers. 

Finn shook his head and tightened his grip on Hux's arm, "wrong, try again."

Hux hissed in pain and made a light head tilt at a side entrance.

With his hands bound and a wounded leg, Hux was dependant on Finn's ungentle grip, as he slowly guided them through a long narrow corridor passing multiple empty escape pod chambers. Leading them through a miniature mace of twists and turns, Hux finally stopped and place his palm on a panel, a door slid open and revealed a small hanger with only one ship parked: the command shuttle. 

Leaving Hux to support himself against his own shuttle, Finn ran to the controls and opened the hangar port while Kylo unlocked the shuttle and hurried to the cockpit. 

"Not you," Finn said, blocking the path as Hux moved to get inside the shuttle. 

Hux narrowed his eyes, but the ramp closed before he had a chance to complain. 

The motors started humming and shortly after they were hovering a meter over the flight deck. 

Kylo turned the shuttle to face the open port and stopped.

Outside a tightly knit formation of Resistance fighters in different sizes and shapes were waiting, blocking the port and preventing their escape.

Finn grabbed the radio and turned it on. 

"Rouge leader!" He called "Stand down, it's me, Finn!"

"Finn?" A scratchy voice replied, "what the hell are you doing here?"

"It's a long story. Let us out!"

"I can't do that, no one is allowed to leave the Supremacy."

"Clive, I need to report to Poe as fast as possible."

"I'm sorry Finn, but orders are orders. We can't risk letting any more of the First Order officers escape. Though I don't think you would be smuggling prisoners of war." 

The last sentence was followed by a short laughter. 

Finn's eyes hastily traveled from Rey to Kylo as he tried to laugh naturally. "Come on, Clive... It's me! I'm on an urgent mission."

"Just wait a bit longer," the voice on the radio was apologetic, "the battle is as good as over and Captain Dameron will be boarding as soon as the upper levels are secured." 

Rey saw Kylo’s grip tightened around the joystick as he glared at the blockade. She didn’t need their connection to guess what he was thinking.

Kylo, don’t…

He didn’t react to her silent plea, though she knew that he had heard it.

Finn was still talking over the communicator but had no luck convincing the leader to let them pass.

Rose had taken the seat of the copilot, looking confused as to why Kylo hadn’t lowered the shuttle to the ground.

They will try to kill us the moment they see me. Kylo's thumb was hovering over the red button on top of the joystick.

He was right.

Kylo Ren was known by every single member of the Resistance. To them, he was the personification of the Dark Side. Their greatest enemy.

If they stayed, only to be surrounded by the Resistance soldiers, it would all end in a bloodbath.

Before she could make up her mind, Kylo quickly turned the laser cannons on and hit the wing of the closest fighter before anyone had a chance to register what was going on.

“What the…!” Finn stared as the fighter descended, hit the hangar floor with a metallic bang and glided a few meters past the command shuttle. Thought the pilot would survive, the response from the other fighters was instantaneous.

Kylo flicked a few switches, got the shield up and took off, maneuvering their aggressive shooting and headed for the gap left behind by the downed fighter.

Left without a choice Rose followed his lead as good as she could. 

"What do you think you are doing!" Finn yelled at Kylo as he struggled to stay standing in the wildly moving cockpit. Kylo ignored him, tilting the shuttle to avoid colliding with a cargo wagon on the ground and pulled the joystick back to fly higher.

"Finn, Rey is hurt. Go treat her shoulder." Rose said without turning from the controls. Finn looked over at Rey as if it was only now he remembered her injury. Her face was feverish with pain as she rested her back against the cockpit wall for support. Swiftly he found a med-kit and concentrated on her shoulder as he glared multiple times in Kylo's direction. 

The fighters in the blockade broke formation, furiously attacking the shuttle with everything they got. 

Kylo evaded the fire throwing the shuttle from side to side, pushing forward against the hangar port. Realizing that the X-wings were enclosing the shuttle trying to force him to crash he made a swift turn upwards to break out of their formation. 

The shuttle jumped violently as a few shots finally got past the shield and scratched against the bottom of the shuttle. 

Kylo cursed, the shuttle wasn't build to engage in combat, it was designed for transportation and for the high-ranking officers to have a central and secure viewpoint while directing a battle. Though the shield was excellent, the shuttle had nothing on the X-wings' maneuverability,  

Firing the laser cannons he scattered the fighters and went for the port once again.

"Make it ready to jump into hyperspace." He ordered. 

"What!?" Rose asked. "We cant! Not from in here. The odds..." 

"Never tell me the odds." Kylo sneered. "Do as I say! We will be out in a minute."

Rose knew that there was no arguing with him and followed the order. 

He had his hand on the handle when something, bigger than an X-wing laser, hit them hard from the side and slammed the entire shuttle back into the hangar, causing it to crash into the sidewall.

Chapter Text

The hangar was full of smoke and people when Rey opened her eyes. Every sound seemed strangely dulled as if she was wearing a helmet. Her eyes felt burning hot as she stared blankly at the unreal scene before her.

The wreck of the shuttle had caught fire and some resistance soldiers were fighting to keep it from exploding.

“Rey!”

Rey turned her head and saw Rose beside her. She was covered in soot and had something white on her head. It took Rey several minutes to realize that it was a bandage.

“Rey, can you hear me?” Rose asked.

Rey nodded, still disoriented.

What had happened? Why? How?

She blinked and tried to clear her head, but it seemed trapped in a gray cloud, unable to function properly.

“She is in chock.” Someone said.

“Where is Kylo?” Rey asked, even her own words sounded unreal. She sat up, looking around with a head as heavy as lead.

No one answered, instead hands tried to get her to lie back down.

Moving her legs, the world started spinning around her and she fell back down on her back.

Once again losing her consciousness.

-

Rey stood on a vast plain. The wind wrapped itself around her body, dragging at her hair and clothes as it rolled over the knee-high grass in large waves. She saw hills on the horizon and a collection of simple huts in its shelter.

As she approached them, the sound of children laughing and plying gradually increased.

A child in simple earth colored clothes ran past her and disappeared in the grass. Rey followed the kid with her eyes. Then another child appeared. Dressed similarly, but a few years older and a lot slower.

“Sansi! We aren’t allowed to play out there!”

“Excuse me…” Rey called out, but the second child continued forward, not even sparing a glance.

Entering the small settlement, she quickly realized that no one was able to see or hear her.

“I must be dreaming.” She mumbled to herself, looking around at the children. There were around thirty of them, scattered in groups with their peers.

Rey only spotted a few grownups: Three women and a man, moving around, directing the oldest in the daily duties and keeping an eye on the youngest. Their distanced and strict behavior told Rey that they were not the parents, but more like teachers or caretakers.

A girl went up to one of the women, tagged at her skirt and pointed out to the plains. The women sighted and stomped out to collect the disobedient children. Rey saw the woman dreg both back, one in each hand, while scolding them firmly.

Sitting down on a bench she took it all in. Enjoying the peaceful atmosphere, until a yell caught her attention:

“Ben, you cheat! You used the Force to win!”

Rey knew it couldn’t be a coincidence and followed the sound of the quarrel.

“I didn’t!”

“You did!”

As Rey passed around one of the huts, she saw him. A short, black-haired boy with birthmarks scattered across his face, getting into a fight with a blond boy.

Ben put up a good fight but was largely overpowered by his older opponent, who got a hold of his head as they wrestled around on the dusty ground.

“Azrakil! Let go of him!”

Rey immediately recognized the voice of Luke Skywalker and saw the man himself take a hold of the older boy and force him to let go. With the other hand, he dragged ben to his feet and glared at both boys.

Master Luke was about ten years younger and neatly shaved.

“What happened this time?” He asked. None of them wanted to say and it was only after a straight glare from the Jedi that the blond boy answered.

“Ben used the Force!”

“I did not!” Ben retorted.

Master Luke shook them again as they reached out to hit each other again. “That’s enough! Eidie, take Azrakil away.” A woman took a strong grip on the blond boy and pulled him off.

“It is not allowed to use the Force outside of practice.”

Maintained by his uncle Ben looked to the ground, “I didn’t.” He stubbornly repeated.

“Don’t lie to me.” Master Luke’s voice was like thunder.

Ben’s eyes filled with tears as he jerked himself away from his uncle and ran to the plains. The spectators gathered to see the fight held their breath. Master Luke looked around at them and waved his hand, signaling that they should carry on.

As the small crowd parted, he rubbed his hand over his forehead, glancing in the direction Ben had disappeared. Rey saw a tiny glint of regret, before he clenched his hand, straightened up and went in the opposite direction.

Rey followed Ben and found him on top of a big rock, looking out to the horizon.

“Who are you?” He asked.

The question startled Rey as she had gotten used to being invisible.

“No one,” Rey replied. Somehow, she had a feeling that she shouldn’t tell him her name.

“No one is no one.” Ben scoffed, and Rey smiled.

“Well, I am.”

The boy peeped at her and pulled his legs to his chest. “That’s stupid.”

Rey sat down beside Ben and admired the scenery. It wasn’t as green as Takodana or as astonishing as Lavadonna, but the rolling hills had a calming, simple charm. “Beautiful.” She uttered.

“No, it’s not. It’s stupid.” Ben sulked.

“Why?”

“It just is.”

“You know, I come from a world full of sand.” Rey said, “it is so hot that you need to stay in the shadow for hours every noon to avoid burning up and so cold that your fingers and toes freeze at night. There is nearly no water at all and only a few plants.”

“It sounds like a horrible place.”

Rey snickered, “sometimes, but it got its good points. I only ever found one flower in the desert and it was the most beautiful flower I will ever see. Surviving in the darkness of a sand cave, despite the impossible conditions it is facing.”

“Is that some sort of weird way of telling me to toughen up?” Ben asked.

“No?” Rey wrinkled a brow, “why do you think that?”

“Everything is.” Ben rolled his eyes “Uncle Luke always tells a long story instead of just saying things.”

“Well, I’m not your uncle. I think you are though enough as you are.”

For the first time, a small smile showed on Ben’s face, though he turned his head a bit, trying to hide it.

“Did he send you?” Ben suddenly asked, “to cheer me up?”

Rey was convinced that Ben wasn’t talking about Master Luke. “Who?” Rey asked.

“Snoke.”

Rey blinked in surprise as the name was said as if it belonged to a gentle savior. Ben was no more than ten years old and that bastard had his claws on him already. 

“No.” She answered, a bit harder than she meant to.

“He said he would.” Ben proclaimed.

A cold shiver went down Rey’s spine and she involuntarily looked around, as if Snoke was lurking somewhere close. “He said that he would send me?”

“He said, someone…”

Rey relaxed a bit, reminding herself that this was all a dream and that Snoke was long dead.

“I just told you, I'm no one.” Rey couldn’t help but laugh at the confusion in the boy’s face. “I'm definitely not sent here by Snoke, but I still want to cheer you up.” She reached up and ruffled his already messy hair.

“I’m not a baby,” Ben mumbled and removed her hand, though he quickly turned his face away from her it didn't hide the redness of his ears.

As proud as ever, Rey thought with a smile.

Then the world started to get fussy around her. 

Chapter Text

The redheaded man looked around in his cell. 

Surprisingly, there was a pleasant light ensuring him full visibility. 

A simple plate of food and a cup of water was placed on a small table with a chair. Across from the table was a simple, but serviceable, bed with a blanket and even a small pillow.

Hux scoffed. 

This was only proof of the weakness digging deep into every part of the Resistance.

A prison was not meant to be pleasant.

It disrupted the entire purpose of the punishment. How was it supposed to keep the troops from stepping out of line or committing criminal activities if there were no discomfort or pain involved?

Looking down at his leg he remembered the medic droid who had pushed the broken bone back into his leg and treated the other wounds and bruises. It seemed like a waste of both time and resources.

It was obvious that he would soon be questioned in front of some loosely put together jury and sentenced to death.

Most likely after a painful interrogation trying to squish as much information out of him as possible.

The future didn't seem bright, but at least he was still alive.

"Hallo there Armitage." A well-known voice broke into the gloom of his thoughts

"Savo?" Hux looked up, strictly keeping his surprise to himself as he saw his former second in command stand on the other side of the cell door. 

He was clad in a uniform belonging to the officers of the Republic.

"Traitor." Hux leered.

General Savo smiled. 

"Not quite."